


On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me… a Samoyed tree ornament?

by borealalice



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Christmas Fluff, Established Relationship, Jeno is a sweetheart who indulges his boyfriend, Just Na Jaemin being his extremely extra self, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-24
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:46:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28291113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/borealalice/pseuds/borealalice
Summary: Jaemin is excited for Christmas for the first time in forever, and no, it has nothing to do with the fact that he’s prepared a huge surprise for Jeno (okay, maybe it has everything to do with the fact that he’s prepared a huge surprise for Jeno)
Relationships: Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin
Comments: 2
Kudos: 68





	On the first day of Christmas, my true love sent to me… a Samoyed tree ornament?

**Author's Note:**

> Well! Here it is! My first published fic, and of course it's about holiday shenanigans. I've been tweaking it for so long that at this point I genuinely have no idea where I was going with this, but I definitely arrived somewhere, so... enjoy? Comments and kudos are much appreciated. Merry Christmas, NCTzens! 
> 
> (This fic is unbetaed, so please excuse my wonky English)

Jaemin knows he should be paying attention to whatever the hell is going on around him, really, he does, but a flash of white and red on the edge of his vision has caught his attention. 

They’re at the underground market at Namdaemun filming a Christmas special for lord knows what, and the whole place is swimming in decorations. It’s impossible to walk two feet without tripping over one colored cable or another, or a rack of Christmas lights, or yet another damned tree; and the speakers are blasting carols so loud that he can barely hear the host, but he can’t bring himself to care.

Right there, on the branch of one of the many plastic trees littering the space, hangs the perfect ornament: it’s a little samoyed, all white, tongue lolling out and a red scarf painted around its neck. And right next to it, a matching doberman, same size and scarf. It’s perfect. They’re perfect. He needs to buy them.

He’s so distracted he nearly misses the host addressing him with a question, but a well-placed elbow to the ribs - courtesy of one Huang Renjun - drags him back to the present. He has no idea what he was just asked, but he’s been doing this long enough that he can bullshit his way through an answer, all while subtly keeping an eye on the little samoyed ornament. It probably doesn’t make that much sense, but hey, the fans know he’s a tad strange, and it will probably be edited out anyway. It won’t hurt his brand.

From the other end of the line, Jeno catches his eye as the host moves on to the next topic, tilting his head in a silent question.

_You alright?_

God, Jaemin loves him so much. He nods imperceptibly and Jeno relaxes, letting Donghyuck grab his arm and drag him away, following the crew. Jaemin sighs and, with a last glance at the little samoyed and his doberman friend, joins the rest of Dream as they make their way through the market. He’ll have to come back later and pray that nobody else has gotten to them in the meantime.

As a general rule, Jaemin dreads Christmas. He’s not the only one, he knows. All of NCT and pretty much every other idol out there despises the festive season, because, why wouldn’t they? The entire nation is counting days off until they get to hang their work boots and go spend time with their families, but all _they_ get is a tripled workload, what with award season and the year-end concerts. He hates it, no matter how thankful he is to be part of a group as successful as NCT, booked and busy; no matter how much he loves their fans. He just wants to rest, cuddle with Jeno and eat his mum’s home cooking, please and thank you.

But this year. This year he’s kind of looking forward to it. To all of it: the lights, the carols, the tree… the whole package. He’s _excited_ for Christmas, for the first time since debut (the Christmas he spent at home after his injury doesn’t count - it wasn’t a particularly happy one, no matter how good his mum’s food is. Everything hurt and he couldn’t see his boys), and it’s all because of Jeno. Or, the surprise he’s prepared for Jeno. Jeno has no clue anything is going on, he’s just being his usual supportive self, which always makes life better, no matter the season.

It’s about fifteen minutes of trekking amongst stalls and vendors and answering silly questions when the host calls for a game of hide and seek as the closing event for the program. Haechan lights up like a candle, always ready to cause problems on purpose, and he barely waits for the count to begin to shove Chenle out of the way and launch himself across the market, disappearing into the crowd, Chenle hot on his heels. Great. It’ll take them at least fifteen minutes to locate their troublemaking duo. Plenty of time for Jaemin to do what needs to be done.

Giving Jeno and Renjun a cheeky wink, he turns and speed-walks away. He only has about a quarter of an hour to run his errand, after all. As soon as he’s out of range of the staff’s big, professional cameras, he takes off, running past the _ahjummas_ trying to get his attention to sell him things and all the way to the place where he first spaced out. And - Yes! There’s the samoyed and - oh, the doberman is gone. Oh, well. He can still get the samoyed, which was what drew his eye in the first place, but he really wanted the set.

Well, no can do, he thinks as he approaches the sweet lady manning the stall and proceeds to charm the pants off her. In the end, he gets the ornament with a 20% discount, a surprisingly strong pinch on the cheek - _ouch_ \- and a cryptical “I hope you and the other boy complete the set!” before he’s sent off.

Other boy? What other boy? He doesn’t linger on it as a glance at his watch tells him that he has about six minutes until someone comes looking for him, if his estimate of Donghyuck and Chenle’s hiding skills is correct. He wastes about four of them stuffing the little samoyed into his coat so that it’s undetectable, and by the time he’s finished straightening his clothes he can see Jisung’s head on the other end of the aisle, hovering above the sea of people. Damn, the kid really is a beanpole.

“Hyung! Found you! Why are you just standing there instead of hiding?”

He smiles at his really tall child. “Got tired and gave up.”

Jisung turns to his little handheld camera and nods, as if this is a perfectly valid explanation “as expected from our weird hyung…”

Eventually the rest of the group catches up to them, a smug Haechan crowing about his unparalleled skills at the back. Jaemin has no idea if he actually won or if he somehow cheated, but he’s happy for him. After that, it’s just a matter of saying their goodbyes to the cameras and crew, and they’re on their way back to the dorm for a blessedly schedule-free afternoon. As Jeno cuddles up to him in the car and later on his bed, Jaemin smiles to himself and thinks of the new ornament, now safely tucked away in his closet. Yes, he’s excited for this Christmas.

-

The following morning, Jaemin wakes up way too early for a free day and carefully extricates himself from a grumbling Jeno’s octopus’ limbs. With a last glance at his sleeping boyfriend, who has turned and hugged Jaemin’s vacated pillow to his chest to compensate for the loss of its owner, Jaemin pulls his cap over his head and leaves the dorm. The rest of the members are still asleep in their respective rooms, save for Haechan who’s off on one of his 127 schedules with their manager. 

Today is the day. Today is officially the day and he’s so happy he might just vibrate out of his skin. The little samoyed burns in his pocket as he makes his way downtown, and if he’s whistling as he walks under the morning sun, that’s nobody’s business but his own.

-

Jeno wakes up alone, which is very strange, because today is a day off, and on days off Nana sleeps in until the last possible second, until Renjun or Jisung or any of the other brats burst into the room to demand home-cooked food. But the bed is cold and there’s a distinct lack of Jaemin next to him when he sleepily reaches out an arm in search of his boyfriend. Confused, he incorporates, staring at the empty spot next to him like an idiot. Maybe he’s in the kitchen?

Jaemin is not in the kitchen, nor the bathroom, nor anywhere else in the dorm. He even peeks into Jisung’s room - what used to be Jeno’s room, really, until their youngest declared he was tired of the two lovebirds taking over his and Jaemin’s room and moved right out into Jeno’s empty one - in case Jaemin has decided to annoy his favorite child this early in the morning, but their _maknae_ is sleeping peacefully, alone. There aren’t any notes anywhere to indicate Nana’s whereabouts, either.

Just as he’s starting to slightly panic, his phone rings, vibrating inside his pocket. He immediately picks up when he sees the “Jaem” displayed on the caller ID. “Nana? Where are you? Are you alright?”

“Ah, sorry, Jeno” comes his boyfriend’s voice from the other side of the line “I thought you’d sleep for longer. Don’t worry, I’m alright, and I’m on my way back! Get dressed, I’m taking you somewhere!”

“Wha- taking me wher-“ the dial tone interrupts him before he can finish the sentence. Jaemin has hung up on him. Confused, he stares at the blank phone screen for a couple of seconds before sighing and pocketing it, making his way to their room to pick out an outfit. His idiot boyfriend hasn’t even told him where they’re going, so he has no clue what the dress code is. Sweatpants and a hoodie will have to do.

He’s just dug a bucket hat out of Jaemin’s side of the closet when he hears the front door open, the lock beeping softly. Peeking his head out, he spies Jaemin taking his shoes off by the entrance with a huge grin on his face. Why he’s smiling to himself, Jeno doesn’t know, but it makes him happy to see Nana happy. He’s been more apathetic than usual lately, the grueling NCT 2020 schedules draining his social batteries to the point where he’s been having trouble being energetic even on camera. This is a welcome change.

He finally leaves the room, closing the door gently behind him so as not to wake the rest of the dorms’ inhabitants, and the soft noise draws Jaemin’s attention. His head shoots up, his smile widening even more if possible at the sight of his boyfriend in his bucket hat. 

“Why, hello, handsome. Going somewhere?” he asks, playfully.

“Maybe, if my dumbass boyfriend who disappeared this morning out of the blue deigns to take me to his secret hiding place.”

Jaemin shakes his head, coming closer to offer Jeno an apology hug. “I know, I know, I was so excited that I didn’t think to leave a note. In my defence, I thought you would sleep for longer, and I’d have time to come back before you were up. My bad”

Jeno snuggles into him “How could I sleep in when my very own personal heater was missing?” 

“Oh, so that’s what you really want me for, huh? To leech off body warmth?” 

“Not my fault you run hotter than a furnace” Jeno finally lets go, satisfied now that he’s gotten his cuddles. He pecks Jaemin’s nose, ignoring his whining for a real kiss, and walks past him to go put on his shoes. “Alright, mister. You said you were gonna take me somewhere. Lead the way.”

Jaemin lights up like a candle, running to get his shoes on again. As soon as he’s done he quickly leans in and steals a peck, pulling back with a self-satisfied smile and extending a hand. Rolling his eyes, Jeno takes it, and off they go.

It’s a completely unfamiliar route, which means that Jaemin is not taking them to any of their usual haunts. Intrigued, Jeno lets himself be dragged along as they take the subway to Yangcheon. Once they’ve stepped out of Mokdong station, Jaemin drags them to an empty bench and stops.

“Nana? Is this the place you wanted to show me? A bench?”

His boyfriend raises a finger, busy rummaging through his coat, until he finally produces two items: a small wrapped present, and a sleeping mask.

“Alright, first things first: merry christmas!” He thrusts the present into Jeno’s hands, bouncing lightly from the excitement. It’s small and unevenly shaped, though Jaemin has done a pretty good job of wrapping it.

Raising his head in a silent question, Jaemin nods excitedly in answer, giving him the go, and so Jeno rips the paper off and comes face to face with… a samoyed tree ornament.

“Uh?” He makes one of his signature confused noises as he stares at it, taking in all its adorable details, from the red scarf to the way its pink tongue lols out of its mouth.

“Saw it in Namdaemun while we were filming that Christmas special. It really reminded me of you, so I went back to get it.”

“Oh, Nana. Thank you.” He can feel his eyes disappearing into crescents as he involuntarily smiles at his boyfriend.

“Great!!” Jaemin is even more excited now, if possible, bouncing so hard on the balls of his feet that he’s literally vibrating “then onto the second part of the surprise!”. He raises the sleeping mask.

Jeno stares.

Jaemin shakes it lightly.

Jeno stares some more.

Jaemin starts whining “Ah Jeno-yah, come oooon. It’s a surprise! You can’t see where I’m taking you, that would ruin it!!” He keeps insistently shaking the mask.

There’s really no point in arguing with his Jaemin, because Jeno is, unfortunately, absolutely whipped for this man; so he simply sighs, giving in. “If you drop me or make me run into a lamppost you’re sleeping on the sofa for the next week” he states, reaching for it. Jaemin bats his hand away, coming closer to put it on him himself. “As if I’d let my precious boyfriend get hurt” darkness engulfs Jeno’s vision as he pulls it over his eyes “besides, you wouldn’t last a week sleeping without me. Who’s gonna give you cuddles and let you steal their body warmth, hmm?” Jeno grumbles under his breath, knowing he’s right but not wanting to admit it.

Seemingly satisfied with the placement of the mask, Jaemin’s hands draw away from his face to rest on his shoulders, carefully maneuvering him around. “Here we go!” He crows excitedly, pushing him lightly to get him to start walking. They must make a ridiculous sight, two tall guys wearing hats and masks, one of them blindfolded, making their way through the streets of Yangcheon. Jeno is kind of glad he’s wearing the blindfold, because it means he cannot see the weird looks they’re probably getting.

At first he tries to keep up, attempting to memorize all the turns and twists as Jaemin drags him lord knows where, but after a while he just gives up. It’s too complicated to keep track of it all. Eventually, they enter a building, Nana herding him into the elevator to avoid the stairs. 

“Can I take this off now?” Jeno asks, pawing at the sleeping mask.

“Nope!” is Jaemin’s cheerful answer. Jeno sighs. The elevator whirs away, taking them up, up, up, until it dings. Gentle hands guide him out and down a hallway, and, eventually, bring him to a stop. Then, Nana carefully removes the blindfold. Jeno blinks, trying to get his eyes to adjust to the sudden presence of light. They’re standing in front of what looks like an apartment, the door decorated with a very nice Christmas garland. He turns towards Jaemin.

Jaemin raises his hand, and the key glints under the hallway lights.

-

If there is one thing Jaemin is good at, it’s planning for the future, at least financially. His multiple retirement funds can attest to that.

The fans might have laughed for days when they found out about them, but Jaemin’s got a plan (apart from the obvious, that is, making sure he doesn’t get so swept up in the lavish idol lifestyle that he ends up broke. He promised his mum, after all). He’s had a plan for a while.

Jaemin’s gotten himself an apartment.

It’s not very big, and he’s not actually planning to move out of the Dream dorm anytime soon (not that the company would let him, anyways), but it’s his. His very own apartment, fully decorated by him, a safe place where he can play house with Jeno without the rest of the members bothering them.

As far as heart’s desires go, it might not seem like much, not after getting into Korea's most prestigious entertainment company when he was only a kid and making a successful debut, conquering the whole world alongside his NCT brothers. But it's something he's wanted fervently for a while. And, of course, at the center of it, as always, is Jeno. Maybe that’s why it’s so important to him that he gets to see his face the moment he realizes what he’s being offered.

So, reaching for his beloved’s hand, Jaemin unlocks the door.

-

It swings open to reveal a cozy living room, beautifully decorated for Christmas. The sofa sits in front of a tiny fireplace, and there seem to be photos in every corner of the room; most of them of Jeno and Jaemin together, but he spies some with the rest of the dreamies and even the 127 and WayV. The corner is occupied by a tree, one with a clear gap between its ornaments, clearly meant for the little samoyed Jeno now holds in his hand.

It’s perfect.

Jeno is stunned speechless, and he doesn’t really know what expression he's making, but Jaemin’s hands come up to his cheeks, eyebrows pinched in concern. 

“What’s wrong, my love? You don’t like it?” he sounds nervous.

“No! No, I love it. It’s perfect.” He quickly takes hold of Jaemin's wrists, nuzzling into his right palm “I can’t believe you did all this. When did you even find the time to rent an apartment?”

“Actually” Nana’s smile turns a bit sheepish “I bought it”

“Uh?”

“I bought it”

Jeno gapes at him.

“That’s… how?”

“What did you think I was saving up for?” Jaemin grins mischievously

“You… I don’t know? I just didn’t think you’d buy a house at twenty, I guess?”

“Well, I did. I just… wanted a place to call home. Our own little apartment.” He shuffles from foot to foot, suddenly shy. “Is it too much?” He asks, anxiously.

Jeno’s face is wet and his chest is tight, a warm balloon of happiness expanding inside of him. Reaching for Jaemin’s hand, he gently drags him towards the tree, rubbing his thumb lovingly over the dry skin in his hold. Carefully, he shifts one of the hanging ornaments to the side, widening the gap meant for the samoyed. Turning to face his boyfriend, he reaches into his own coat, and pulls out its doberman twin.

Jaemin gasps. “How?” he exclaims, eyes wide. 

It’s Jeno’s turn to shuffle awkwardly on his feet. “Saw you eyeing the pair while we were shooting.”

“But how?? I practically sprinted to the stand!” 

“Yeah, well, so did I, and my legs are longer. I wanted to get you both, but you foiled your own surprise. I only had time to grab the doberman before you turned up and I had to hide, and then you bought the samoyed, so…”

“I can’t believe we accidentally got each other matching gifts! Wait, why didn’t you give it to me earlier?”

“I was going to! But then you started talking about taking me somewhere else, and before I knew it I was blindfolded and I had sort of missed the timing.”

That pulls a laugh from Jaemin. Raising the doberman to lightly clink it against Jeno’s own samoyed, he gestures to the tree and asks “together?”

Jeno melts. “Together”

And so they hang them on the gap Jeno opened up earlier. They stand there for a minute, hands clasped together as they drink in the sight of the completed tree. Yeah, this could easily be home, Jeno thinks.

Eventually, Jaemin moves, tugging Jeno’s coat and his own off to hang them on the rack by the entrance before turning back to the living room. “Wanna see the rest of the house?”

Jeno pulls him into his arms and lets himself drop onto the sofa, snuggling into him. “In a minute” he says, getting comfortable.

Jaemin smiles. The tour can wait. So he adjusts his position for maximum comfort and lightly runs his hand through Jeno’s hair. It’s all so painfully domestic, the fire crackling, the tree lights twinkling, and he can see the city sprawling outside of the window as he holds his love. He’s never been happier.

(They fall asleep, only to be woken hours later by a curious Renjun calling to ask where they’ve been all day. They refuse to tell. But maybe on December 24th Jaemin will text a mysterious location to the Dreamies’ group chat, and tell them to turn up for dinner, and then spend the rest of the day in the kitchen with his love as he cooks up a feast for the best Christmas he’s had in years. Maybe.)

**Author's Note:**

> Well, that's this year's dose of festive sap for me. If you want to have a chat, come find me over on Twitter, at @/borealalice! Happy holidays everybody!


End file.
